In Midland today, 62-year-old David King pleaded guilty to a federal child pornography production charge, announced U.S. Attorney John F. Bash, F.B.I. Special Agent in Charge Emmerson Buie, Jr., El Paso Division, and Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis.

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Griffin, King admitted that from June 1, 2017, to May 1, 2018, he posed minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and produced sexually explicit images of those minors using his cell phone. In June 2019, state authorities executed a search warrant in this case at King’s residence. King was arrested after authorities discovered child pornography on several electronic devices inside the residence.

King faces a mandatory minimum term of 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison. He remains in federal custody. Sentencing, before U.S. District Judge David Counts in Midland, has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the F.B.I. together with the Ector County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Harwood is prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.